


I'll Protect You

by MusicPrincess655



Series: Haikyuu!! Omegaverse [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha!Kyoutani, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega!Yahaba, kyoutani protects yahaba, the rape doesnt actually happen but it is attempted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:22:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6047971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicPrincess655/pseuds/MusicPrincess655
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a traumatic event shakes Yahaba's life, can he and Kyoutani heal?</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Protect You

**Author's Note:**

> I…this…this was supposed to be fluff. It still is, but it does have some dark stuff too. To skip the attempted rape scene, skip from “Kentarou was walking home” to “Kentarou could feel the effects” and you should be fine. You don’t have to read that part for the story to make sense.

Kyoutani Kentarou was a lone alpha. At least, for the most part. Ever since he’d returned to the volleyball team, he’d been a little more sociable, especially after Yahaba had slammed him into a wall to get him to cooperate. That wall-slamming had earned Yahaba the captain’s position, most of the team figuring that if he wasn’t scared of Kentarou, he deserved to be captain, regardless of his omega status.

Kentarou hadn’t really noticed Yahaba much before that, besides the fact that the omega was really pretty. He had yelled at Kentarou, once, when Kentarou came back to the team, and often threw him hostile looks. The wall slam had shown Kentarou that there was a steel in this omega, a lot more past what was visible on the surface. In some ways, that fascinated Kentarou.

Kentarou was walking home alone, having stayed late after practice. It had become his habit as his third year started, along with working with Yahaba more. Their quicks were getting much better with the extra practice. Yahaba had left a little before Kentarou, and since they walked the same way to get home, if Kentarou walked a little faster he might run into Yahaba.

This night was quiet around him, at least until a muffled scream split through his ears, along with a rising smell of distress. Kentarou looked over to see a couple of alphas pinning Yahaba against a wall. One alpha had Yahaba’s hands pinned over his head, pulling his shirt up. The other had a hand over Yahaba’s mouth and a knee between his legs, shoving his shorts down around his ankles. Yahaba was struggling hard, fighting back, but although he was tall, he was still an omega. He was no match for two alphas at once.

Kentarou didn’t even stop to think. He ran, swinging his fist at the alpha that was now trying to shove Yahaba’s legs apart. The alpha was still tumbling to the ground when Kentarou turned to swing at the other alpha. He released Yahaba’s wrists as he fell, and Kentarou moved to put himself between Yahaba and the two alphas. They both looked at him murderously, but now that there was something standing between them and the omega, they seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it and took off running.

Kentarou turned back to Yahaba. He’d slid down the wall, pushing himself into a corner, his shorts still around his ankles. His eyes were wide, and he didn’t seem to be breathing well.

“Are you hurt?” Kentarou asked, kneeling next to Yahaba. Yahaba just cringed farther into the corner. Kentarou moved forward slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements and scare Yahaba more, and gently tugged his shorts up. Yahaba seemed to be going into shock. He didn’t make any move to help Kentarou, and Kentarou had to lift him to get the shorts over his hips.

He finally realized that, in addition to the distress he could smell all over Yahaba, he could smell the faint beginnings of a heat.

_So that’s why the alphas went after him._

Kentarou could feel the effects of the smell of heat, but they were easy to ignore with the terrified look on Yahaba’s face, his eyes still far too wide.

“Come on,” Kentarou said, standing and turning around. He made it a few steps before he realized Yahaba wasn’t following him. He turned back to see Yahaba still cowering in the corner, knees pulled up to his chest. “You live this way, right? You have to go home if you’re about to go into heat. Do you want me to call your parents to come pick you up?”

Yahaba shook his head.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

A nod.

“Come on, then,” Kentarou turned again, hearing Yahaba get to his feet behind him. Kentarou started walking in the direction Yahaba usually walked after practice, making sure to listen to make sure Yahaba was still behind him. After about a block, he felt a hand fist in his shirt over his shoulder blades. He looked over his shoulder to see Yahaba focusing on the ground, even as he gripped Kentarou’s shirt. Kentarou kept walking.

“I don’t know where you live. Which way do I turn?” Kentarou asked, not really expecting an answer. Yahaba seemed in too much shock to talk. Still, Kentarou intended to walk Yahaba all the way home to protect him from other alphas, and he didn’t know where he was going.

Yahaba answered by tugging on his shirt to guide him. The rest of the walk, Yahaba didn’t speak a single word, giving Kentarou directions by pulling on his shirt. Yahaba finally pulled him up to a house, letting Kentarou knock in the door.

The door swung open to reveal a beta woman with the same fluffy hair and light brown eyes as Yahaba, clearly his mother. Just behind her was a younger beta woman, probably Yahaba’s older sister.

“Shigeru? What took you so long…what happened?” Yahaba’s mother asked as his sister rushed forward to pull Yahaba into the house and into her arms. Kentarou pretended he didn’t see the tears forming in Yahaba’s eyes.

“I found him with a couple of alphas trying to force themselves on him,” Kentarou told her. “I don’t think they went through with raping him, but they were going to.”

Yahaba’s mother put a hand over her open mouth, sending a worried glance over her shoulder, but Yahaba and his sister had already disappeared into the house.

“Thank you for bringing him home…” she trailed off.

“I’m Kyoutani Kentarou, ma’am,” Kentarou said. “I’m one of his teammates.”

“Thank you for protecting him and bringing him back,” she said, relief evident on her face. “He has irregular heats, it must have started early. He must have thought he could make it home before it hit.”

Kentarou nodded, all out of words. He turned as Yahaba’s mother rushed back into the house to take care of her son.

Yahaba wasn’t in school or at practice the next day, but Kentarou had expected that. What he hadn’t expected was the text he received from Yahaba just before practice.

_Thank you. For protecting me._

He’d kind of expected Yahaba to just pretend nothing ever happened. That seemed to be his plan when he returned the next day. On the surface, he was the same, as if nothing had happened. He was still sarcastic, still the captain they’d come to be accustomed to. He directed practice the same as he always had. He still came to Kentarou’s classroom to drag him to eat lunch with him and Watari, just like he always did. The slight pink in his cheeks was the only indication that anything was different.

And yet, there were small signs that not all was well. Yahaba was much clingier with Watari than he’d been before, leaning heavily on his beta best friend at times. He had a tense set to his shoulders when he walked through the halls that hadn’t always been there. But what worried Kentarou the most was how Yahaba acted around some members of the team. He clung close to Watari and Kunimi, acted cordial with most of the first years, all betas, but he didn’t react well around the team’s alphas.

Yahaba was working with Kindaichi on spikes a few days later, just as he usually did when he wasn’t working with Kentarou. However, when Kindaichi went to give him a high five after a particularly good spike, he visibly flinched away. He recovered quickly and played it off so well that Kentarou and Watari were probably the only ones that noticed.

Kentarou gritted his teeth and turned away. He’d felt particularly protective of Yahaba since the night he’d almost been raped, maybe for even longer before that, but he didn’t know how to help. He caught Watari giving him a curious look.

The look turned into Watari cornering Kentarou after practice.

“What’s wrong with Shigeru?” Watari asked without preamble. “Did you do anything to him?”

“Why would you ask that?” Kentarou asked. If Yahaba hadn’t told Watari yet, Kentarou didn’t want to be the one to break the news. On the other hand, if there was anyone who could help Yahaba, it was Watari. He needed to know to help Yahaba.

“He’s been…off recently, and he gets weird every time your name comes up,” Watari said. He didn’t sound particularly suspicious, but his gaze was piercing.

“He gets weird…? Look, something did happen, but I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you what,” Kentarou sighed. “I didn’t do anything to him, though. You really think I would hurt him?”

“Your reputation proceeds you,” Watari replied, but he didn’t seem surprised that Kentarou denied hurting Yahaba. It was true that Kentarou tended to get in fights. He had a resting mad expression, which came off as a challenge especially after he presented as an alpha. He didn’t seek these fights out, and it wasn’t like he was a delinquent in any other way.

“Talk to him. Please. Maybe you can help him,” Kentarou shook his head as he tried to walk past Watari. He was surprised when Watari grabbed his arm. He’d thought Watari was just as scared of him as everyone else seemed to be.

“Something really bad happened, didn’t it.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. I don’t know how to help him.”

That seemed to be the end of the issue, at least for now. Kentarou walked into the club room after staying after practice a few days later to find Watari cradling Yahaba, still sniffling from what was clearly a hard cry. He’d probably told Watari what happened. After a brief glance in their direction he left them alone and pulled clean clothes on.

He waited outside for Yahaba to come out so he could walk him home. He’d picked up the habit of walking Yahaba home, with the excuse that it was in the same direction as his house. Yahaba came out of the club room, not looking at all surprised to see Kentarou there. He’d gotten himself under control, but the puffiness of his red eyes showed how much he’d been crying.

Kentarou fell into step with him as they headed for home.

“You don’t have to walk me home every day, you know,” Yahaba said, sounding almost conversational. It was a nice break from the sarcasm he usually used in Kentarou’s presence.

“It’s on my way,” Kentarou grunted. It was half true. He only had to go a few blocks out of his way to walk Yahaba all the way home. “If you don’t want me here, tell me and I’ll leave.”

Yahaba just shook his head and kept quiet. He jumped at a loud sound to their right.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Kentarou told him seriously. “After all, we need our captain in good working condition.”

Kentarou continued walking him home every day.

Months passed, and the Interhigh was coming up. Kentarou knew Yahaba was stressed, not just because this was his first tournament as captain, but also because he had to fill Oikawa’s shoes. He started staying even later with Kentarou, practicing their quick, going over game strategy.

They finally went, with the goal of beating Karasuno and Shiratorizawa. Yahaba seemed a lot happier than he’d been in past months. However, when they stepped into the gym, Yahaba started shrinking back against Kentarou.

There were alphas everywhere. Of course there were, they were the most likely secondary gender to participate in sports. Seijoh had a team heavily geared towards betas, with only a few omegas and alphas. Somehow, Kentarou had forgotten how many alphas would be everywhere and what that might mean for Yahaba.

Yahaba hung close to Kentarou while trying to make it seem like he wasn’t doing it. At least, until Kentarou heard his breath hitch and he stepped behind Kentarou. Kentarou turned to ask him what was wrong when he saw. Two alphas were standing behind him, looking at Yahaba. The same two alphas that had tried to rape him months ago.

Before he could even think, Kentarou moved in front of Yahaba to stand between him and the alphas. A low growl rumbled in his chest. Yahaba clutched at the back of his shirt.

“We’re not here to go after your omega, calm down,” one of them waved his hand dismissively. Kentarou noticed that they had jerseys for another team. They were here to play in the tournament. “You’ve made it clear, he’s yours. Nice catch, by the way.”

They both sauntered off, but Kentarou didn’t drop his guard until they were out of sight. He turned to see Yahaba, pale as a sheet, still gripping his shirt.

“I told you I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you, and I meant that,” Kentarou tried to reassure him. He really didn’t have anything else to offer Yahaba. After all, he wasn’t good enough with words to comfort him. “Don’t let them get to you.”

Yahaba nodded as they went to rejoin the team. They beat Karasuno, but not Shiratorizawa, still a powerhouse even after the loss of Ushijima.

Some more months passed, and Kentarou had to accept that he was pretty good friends with Yahaba. Not best friends like Yahaba was with Watari, but they were definitely close. Yahaba was pushing it when he brought up Kentarou’s grades, though.

“I don’t see why you care,” Kentarou muttered in the face of Yahaba’s sarcasm. “I don’t plan on going to university.”

“I don’t really care about that,” Yahaba replied sweetly, just because he knew it got under Kentarou’s skin. “But failing would mean you have to miss the Spring High, and I need you to beat Karasuno again.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” Kentarou asked, more to get Yahaba off his back than anything else. The dangerous flash in his eyes told Kentarou that he’d done anything but.

“I will tutor you myself if I have to,” Yahaba threatened. Kentarou snorted. As if he would.

He did.

“I don’t see why you have to drag me to your stupid house,” Kentarou grumbled as Yahaba pulled him by the hand into his house on a Saturday afternoon after practice. Kentarou supposed he’d made it easy, considering he always walked Yahaba all the way home.

“Because if I don’t you’ll avoid me, and I was serious about tutoring you,” Yahaba replied flippantly. Kentarou scoffed, but he couldn’t deny that he was happy to see Yahaba acting like he used to.

Yahaba was a surprisingly good teacher. He had a simple way of explaining things that got the point across to Kentarou much better than any of his teachers could. Kentarou worked through his homework, with Yahaba’s help, in record time. He actually felt like he remembered things, which was usually his problem.

Their homework was done, but Yahaba’s mother had insisted that Kentarou stay for dinner. He guessed she was still grateful for him bringing her son home all those months ago. Yahaba put a movie into the TV and leaned back to sit with Kentarou at the foot of his bed. He wasn’t quite touching, but Kentarou could feel the warmth radiating off his thigh. It was nice.

Kentarou noticed a sound about halfway through the movie. It was a gentle grumbling, kind of like a growl but much softer and smoother. He looked over to see Yahaba turning bright red and looking anywhere but him.

“Are you purring?” he asked incredulously. Omegan purrs weren’t very commonly heard outside of close friends and family.

“Shut up! I can’t make it stop,” Yahaba whined, the purr uninterrupted by his words.

“That means you feel happy and safe, right?” Kentarou asked, a little softer now. Yahaba, if possible, blushed deeper, but nodded. Kentarou slowly held his hand up, reaching towards Yahaba. “May I?”

He’d developed the habit of asking permission to touch Yahaba after noticing how he flinched when someone touched him unexpectedly.

Yahaba nodded.

Kentarou spread his palm on Yahaba’s chest. The purr vibrated gently against his hand. He looked up to find Yahaba staring at him, and he couldn’t look away. He used his other hand to brush some stray hairs behind Yahaba’s ear, watching him shiver. He left his hand lingering on Yahaba’s jaw.

“Kyoutani, I…” Yahaba trailed off, and was he leaning in, oh god he was leaning in…

“Dinner’s ready,” his mom called from the kitchen, making them jump apart. Kentarou was probably as red as Yahaba now.

He had a freak out as quietly as he could. There was no way Yahaba had any misconception of what had been about to happen, he definitely knew Kentarou had been about to kiss him. He couldn’t play off how much he’d wanted to kiss Yahaba, how much he’d been wanting that for a while now, _why was he just now realizing that he wanted to kiss Yahaba?_

“Kyoutani-kun, it’s already so late, why don’t you stay the night?” Yahaba’s mom suggested as they helped her clean up from dinner. Kentarou choked.

“My house really isn’t that far from here, it’s a short walk…” Kentarou started, but she cut him off.

“Nonsense! It’s already past nine, I won’t have my son’s friends walking around this late. Any sort of character could be out this late! I’m sure Shigeru has some clothes you could borrow to sleep in.” She gave Yahaba a pointed look.

“Come on,” Yahaba sighed, turning almost too quickly for Kentarou to catch his blush. “They probably won’t fit around you too well, but at least they’ll be long enough.”

Sure enough, the t-shirt and sweatpants Yahaba threw at him were long, but barely fit around his chest and hips. Still, they were stretchy enough that it wasn’t uncomfortable.

He looked up to see Yahaba staring at him. Before he could ask, Yahaba turned red and sprinted to the bathroom. Kentarou looked down again and saw how tightly the shirt pulled around his chest.

_Oh._

Kentarou was already curled up on the futon when Yahaba returned, blush under control. Without speaking he slid into his bed. He flicked out the light and they both lapsed into sleep.

Kentarou woke up hours later, still in the night, to the sound of whimpering coming from the bed. He sat up, just high enough to see over the edge. Yahaba was thrashing around, crying in his sleep. Kentarou was on his feet in an instant.

“Yahaba. Wake up,” he hissed, not entirely sure what to do. He didn’t want to shake Yahaba awake, in case that scared him more. Weren’t you not supposed to wake people who were having nightmares? “Wake up, Yahaba. Wake up.”

Raising his voice a little did nothing, and Kentarou didn’t want to wake the entire house. Gritting his teeth, he placed a hand gently on Yahaba’s shoulder, figuring it was probably the safest place he could touch. He squeezed.

“Wake up. Yahaba. Shigeru!”

Yahaba finally opened his eyes, fingers clawing into Kentarou’s arm.

“I…what…huh?” he stuttered.

“You were having a nightmare,” Kentarou told him, trying to pull his arm back, but Yahaba just held on tighter, one hand lacing his fingers together with Kentarou’s. “Do you have these a lot?”

“Not as much as I used to,” Yahaba whispered. “Just…every couple of weeks or so.”

“Have you talked to anyone about them?” Kentarou asked.

“No. They’re not as frequent, they’ll probably just go away on their own.”

“Is it always the same nightmare?” A nod. “Then it’s probably the same thing bothering you. It won’t just go away because you don’t want to deal with it.”

“Maybe if I ignore it, it’ll just go away.”

“That’s it!” Kentarou slid under the covers beside Yahaba, still holding his hand. Yahaba made a quiet squawk that he would definitely deny later.

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m staying right here until you tell me what’s wrong,” Kentarou said firmly. Yahaba huffed, looked away, looked back at Kentarou, and huffed again.

“Fine. Every nightmare is my memories from…the night you saved me,” Yahaba said quietly. Kentarou moved closer.

“The night you were almost raped?”

“Yeah and that’s the thing,” Yahaba snorted derisively. “I wasn’t even raped. Nothing actually happened to me, you saved me. I have no reason to be so upset, I have no reason to be having nightmares, I have no reason to be so scared whenever an alpha so much as looks at me. I’m so sick of being scared all the time, I just want it to stop!”

The last was a little loud, and Kentarou heard shifting in another room.

“But something bad did happen to you,” Kentarou argued. “Just because they couldn’t finish raping you doesn’t mean they didn’t start. You were violated, and of course you’re upset and scared. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“But…”

“No buts.” Kentarou pulled Yahaba into his chest, cradling him there. Yahaba’s breath hitched a few times before he started crying. “Shh. It’s okay, you’re going to be okay, I’m going to protect you. Even if you’re scared, I’ll make sure you’re safe. So stop trying to hide this and deal with it on your own.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Yahaba sobbed. “I thought you hated me.”

“Would I really spend as much time with you as I do if I hated you?”

“That night…when you punched those other alphas, when you protected me, I thought you were going to finish what they started,” Yahaba breathed. He’d never told Kentarou this, but it didn’t really surprise him. Yahaba hadn’t had any reason to trust him at that point. “And then…you took me home, you were gentle with me. I didn’t even know you could be gentle before that. And you’ve been protecting me ever since, I know you have. Part of me wants to feel bad I was ever scared you were going to rape me.”

“We barely knew each other then, you didn’t have a reason to believe I wouldn’t,” Kentarou assured him.

“So why did you protect me? If you didn’t have a reason to?”

“I just…I just did.” Yahaba made a noise of annoyance. “I don’t know what you want, Yahaba, I didn’t exactly have much of a thought process. I just moved before I thought about it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Were you going to kiss me earlier?” Yahaba asked.

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“I’m trying to make sure it wasn’t just some spur of the moment thing!” Yahaba snapped. “I don’t need your pity, or whatever, I don’t need you to kiss me because you feel sorry for me or because your hormones got out of control for a minute, or…”

Kentarou kissed him. Yahaba cut off, still for a second before moving to return the kiss. Kentarou moved his lips gently before pulling back.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” he told Yahaba. “Maybe I just realized it tonight, but I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while. And it’s not because of pity. I don’t pity you. I think you’re one of the strongest people I know. Not many people could deal with all the crap you take for being a captain and an omega, you dealt with this all on your own for so long. You’re incredibly smart, and _God_ you’re pretty, and…look, I’m not looking for a quick fuck, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Yahaba blushed a little at his wording.

“Does that mean you like me?”

“Yeah, I’d probably be crazy not to,” Kentarou laughed. “You’re amazing.”

“So…do you want to go on a date tomorrow?”

“Are we dating now?”

“If you want us to be.” Yahaba ducked his head. “I’ve…kind of had a crush on you for a while. Not because of the saving me thing, I actually kind of liked you before that. It’s been driving Shinji crazy, he keeps telling me to just ask you out.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was never sure you would say yes. I didn’t even know why you saved me, and I didn’t want you to think it was all because of that. But…you’re the only alpha that doesn’t scare me anymore. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because you were gentle with me when you had every reason not to be.”

“Hey, I promised I would protect you. I meant that.” Kentarou ran his hand through Yahaba’s hair.

_It’s so soft._

“You know, the first thing I heard when you woke me up was you calling me by my first name.”

Kentarou blushed.

“I just wanted to wake you up, I was trying everything.”

“It’s fine. You can call me Shigeru if you want,” Yahaba told him. Kentarou swallowed.

“You can…use my first name too, if you want to,” Kentarou said brokenly. Shigeru laughed.

“Okay, Ken-chan,” he giggled.

“Oh my god, no. You sound like Oikawa. Why did you have to ruin the moment?” Kentarou groaned.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“I really like you, and I’m really glad you like me.”

“Shut up and go back to sleep.”

When they walked into the gym holding hands, Watari let out a long suffering sigh and threw his head back.

“Thank god. I thought you two were never going to get your acts together and start dating. You’ve had crushes on each other all year, it’s been driving us all crazy.”

Kentarou glanced around the gym. Kindaichi was nodding, Kunimi stoic by his side. A few first years were wearing expressions of relief as well.

“Seriously, did everyone know before we did?” Shigeru groaned. Kentarou squeezed his hand.

“At least we know now,” he said diplomatically. A new trait, for him.

“Shut up and go teach Kindaichi how to spike better,” Shigeru sighed, letting go of his hand and pushing him towards the other alpha.

In some ways, their relationship barely changed. Shigeru still threw sarcasm his way all the time, he still got pissed. Only now, they could kiss instead of fighting, which they found to be a much better way of solving their problems. Shigeru still had nightmares sometimes, but not nearly as often, and he always called Kentarou to talk about it. Kentarou was sure to reassure him that he would always protect him.

Shigeru was a little scared of physical intimacy, and Kentarou promised to never force him into something he didn’t want to do. Eventually, he broke down the fear Shigeru still had around that and alphas. Shigeru didn’t feel scared all the time, and Kentarou didn’t feel like such a lone alpha anymore. All was well.

**Author's Note:**

> PS Yahaba’s mom totally knows about Yahaba’s crush on Kyoutani and is the best wingwoman ever. HMU my tumblr is musicprincess.tumblr.com


End file.
